[Article] Lankans want to prove a point
Mathialagan Subramaniam
Date-stamped : 15 Mar96 - 22:15
LANKANS WANT TO PROVE A POINT
By Sa`adi Thawfeeq
Calcutta, Friday - Having humiliated India in front of a home
crowd of over 100,000 at Eden Gardens under lights here on
Wednesday, Sri Lanka were looking forward to meeting Australia in
the Wills World Cup final on Sunday at Lahore to settle an old
score.
GRUDGE MATCH
Australia will take on Sri Lanka in a what could be termed a
grudge match. Sri Lanka were at the receiving end during their
recent tour of Australia, where umpiring decisions, especially in
the World Series Cup finals went against them. They lost the
best of three finals 2-0 by rather narrow margins.
Those incidents forced Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga to
comment that Australia would not win the World Cup because
netural umpires will be standing.
``We want to prove a point to the Aussies that we can beat
them. The Aussies have been really different. Not only me,
perhaps the whole Lankan team is also eyeing an Australia-Lanka
final,`` said Sri lanka manager Duleep Mendis after Wednesday`s
triumph over India in the semi-finals.
CONCENTRATE
However, Ranatunga played it down by saying: ``I want to
concentrate on my own players rather than think about who our
rivals are. We have never made it to the final of a World
Cup. It`s a great achievement.`` Ranatunga attributed
everything to team effort.
``Many had the idea that Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sanath
Jayasuriya are the only match winners. They ignored the fact that
we had a solid batting depth. Apart from these two, we have
Aravinda, Arjuna, Roshan and Hashan, all with proven track
records. They are as good as anyone in the world. How could you
ignore them?`` asked Mendis.
Indian cricket manager Ajith Wadekar, for whom this match was
his swan song, praised the Sri Lankan`s for their
wonderful performance.
WRONG DECISION
``I don`t think it was a wrong decision to send Sri Lanka to
bat first. We could not play well. Congratulations to Sri Lanka
for putting up a good show. I wish them good luck and hope that
the World Cup comes back to the sub-continent,`` said Wadekar.
He was optimistic that India will recover from their shock of
losing to Sri Lanka.
Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin admitted the decision not to
allow Sri Lanka chase a total was obviously not vindicated.
``It was a joint decision to field first. There are no ifs and
buts since we have lost the match. It`s finished and everything
is over for us,`` said Azharuddin.
TURNING WICEKT
``Scoring 250 runs on a turning wicket was always going to be
difficult. I must appreciate the Sri Lankan bowling for doing a
great job on a vicious wicket,`` he said.
``I know we have disappointed a lot of people but we tried our
best. Our decision to field first was going well when we got
three quick wickets, but ultimately we could not take advantage
of this. It was not our day,`` Azharuddin said.
Making a decision on this wicket was a testing time for both
captains. The tricky decision was taken out of Ranatunga`s
hands when his counterpart won the toss.
``It was a good toss to lose, I might have done the same thing as
Azhar and paid the penalty``, said Ranatunga after the match.
``Commenting on the behaviour of the spectators which forced
ICC match referee Clive Lloyd to award the match to Sri Lanka,
Ranatunga said: ``We were never worried, it concerned the
Indians. We were never heckled by the crowd. But I felt sad the
Eden Gardens crowd booed and jeered the Indian team.``
UNFORTUNATE
``It`s really unfortunate that the cricketers had to face such
behaviour. This could not happen with any cricketer of any
country,`` said Ranatunga.
India`s sensational defeat at Calcutta received banner
headlines from several leading Indian dailes.
``The Asian Age` said: ``India fall from grace at Eden``, `The
Calcutta Telegraph` said" ``Calcutta shows its ugly face and
India crashes to defeat`` while `The Statesman` said" ``Sri
Lanka reaches cup final - unruly Eden crowd drives last nail
in India`s corfin``.
Some of the games` big names heaped praise on Sri Lanka`s
performance banking them to win the World Cup.
FIGHTING SPIRIT
``Sanath Jayasuriya`s efforts were typical of the fighting
spirit that Sri Lanka have shown in the last 12 months. To have
fought back from losing their two openers in the first over was a
courageous performance and the Lankans have thoroughly deserved
their spot in the final,`` said former Australian captain Ian
Chappell, who is here as a TV commentator.
``As a team they do not fear any opponent nowadays and I would
not mind betting Sri Lanka are praying for an Australian win in
Chandrigarh. No one could deny that they have earned the right
for that opportunity in the final,`` said Chappell.
FINEST
``Aravinda de Silva is one of the finest batsmen in world
cricket, a skilful player with a wide range of shots and an
aggressive approach. However, his record does not reflect
those talents mainly because he insists on hitting the ball
through the infield in the air. On this occasion, he desisted
and the value of his innings may convince him to bat in
this manner more often,`` he said.
Former Indian Test off-spinner Erappali Prasanna said: ``The
Sri Lankans with their tails up under the leadership of Arjuna
Ranatunga looked menacing. Ranatunga`s captaincy was superb.
The Sri Lankan skipper is a brilliant captain. He remained calm
when Sachin Tendulkar was in the middle and was imaginative
while planning his attack.``
HEAVY PRICE
`The Asian Age of Calcutta` reported that India paid a heavy
price for ignoring the groundsman`s advice to bat first on a
newly laid Eden Gardens strip. The newspaper reported that
Azharuddin had admitted in a post-match press conference that a
decision to chase a total rather than set one was pre-determined.
The maximum relative humidity on Wednesday of 89 per cent with
maximum temperatures reaching 36.2 degrees centigrade, had
its casualties on the field when Sri Lanka batsman Roshan
Mahanama suffered cramps on his thigh muscle, which forced him
to retire while batting. Doctors attending to him said had
Mahanama resumed his innings he would have taken a grave risk
as 24 hours was needed for recuperation after an attack like
that.
Source:: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net)
<END> Contributed by vg (vpg...@jove.acs.unt.edu)
through http://www.chat.carleton.ca/~ssivalo2